As Budget Deadline Nears, Groups Seek ‘Market Match’ Funds

By Desert Star Staff

A program helping lowincome California families buy fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets may be on the chopping block as state budget negotiations come down to the wire.

Organizations fighting hunger in the state are asking for $35 million to fund the Match program, which is part of the California Nutrition Incentives Program.

Mini Forman, food and farming program director at the Ecology Center, oversees Market Match statewide.

“The program, in 2022 alone, provided approximately 38 million servings of fruits and vegetables to thousands of CalFresh shoppers,” Forman reported. “Between 2017 and today, Market Match has put more than $43 million into the hands of CalFresh shoppers to buy more fruits and vegetables.”

This Thursday is the deadline to pass a state budget and close a projected $31.5 billion shortfall. The program was included in the State Assembly version of the budget bill but not the state Senate version, nor is it in the governor’s May Revise. If it is not funded, benefits will end after 2024.

Market Match allows people using CalFresh EBT cards to spend $10 or $15 daily on fruits and vegetables and get a credit for the same amount, doubling their spending power. Forman described the program as a “triple win.”

“There is more than

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Arlette Capel Desert Star Weekly 13279 Palm Drive Suite just the impact of food security for people,” Forman asserted. “There’s also the nutrition aspect of getting food-insecure people access to fresh food. There’s also the economic impact of helping small family farms in rural areas get access to revenue through farmdirect sale sites such as farmers’ markets.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture matches every dollar the state puts toward the California Nutrition Incentive Program. The program serves more than 270 farmers’ markets across California.